About six weeks ago I completed Warrior Dash Arizona 2012! It was not at all what I expected! I was expecting a muddier, dirtier run. I received fire jumping, 50 feet of mud, three broken toes, an injured knee, a sunburn and heat stroke (OK so I didn’t get the heat stroke but, seriously, my partner in crime did!)!
Warrior is much more obstacle based and a lot less of a “fun run,” with a huge wall climb (wear gloves!), a fireman pole, a car jungle (tetanus shot please), several smaller wall climbs, a horizontal cargo net, fire to jump over, and a mud crawl to cool down with. I am not knocking it at all! It was amazing, but like I said not what I was expecting.
I learned a lot from my experience here.
1.) If you live in Arizona and are going to be running in a record breaking 102 degree weather in the middle of the desert, it is going to be hot! This seems like a given, but don’t sign up to run at 3:30 in the afternoon! If you do, drink water, lots and lots of water. It won’t help the heat, but it gives you something to vomit when you get heat exhaustion. Note to Warrior Staff: MORE WATER STATIONS
2.) Ask the guy directing you to parking if you can take your chances on finding a closer parking spot that the one that is a mile away from the entrance. We got to the event with plenty of time to spare and were directed to park out in the south 40. We walked up and got all our goodies (warrior hat awesomeness) and walked back to put everything back in the car, change shoes, etc. There were a TON of parking spots right by the entrance at 3pm. We moved our car closer and I am so glad that after all that running and climbing and jumping we only had to walk a few feet to the car. It was exceptionally nice since we went back to have the medics look at my knee.
3.) If you are not willing to check a bag, which I never do, and you have an electronic key (electronics + water = bad) bring some Ziploc bags with you. All my running shorts have a zippered pocket in them and we double bagged our key and stuck it in the pockets! At the end of the day the keys were dry and we didn’t have to wait for someone to get our stuff or risk it getting stolen.
4.) If you have to drive a distance to a run, take a driver with you, if possible. We both had husbands who were watching our kids or we would have dragged them along for the ride. It isn’t impossible to run all that distance and drive home, but it is so nice to be able to have someone else to drive you home! *Bonus: They can carry your stuff! 
5.) Don’t take it too seriously! I realize that this race is a little less of a fun run, but life is too short to take a race serious. It probably is awesome to be in first place. I wouldn’t know and I think that would just be too much pressure. I like to race against myself, that way I always win!
6.) Horizontal cargo nets…not as easy as they look! I don’t know the best place to get across these, but it is not on the sides. Also, try to keep on your feet. I thought crawling would be easier. It isn’t!
7.) If on the other end of a wall is a metal slide with no mud at the bottom go down on your stomach. You might feel silly, but you will feel a lot better than the people who jammed their leg by landing wrong on the hard earth. Oh and again 102 degrees of sunlight radiating off metal means that it will be HOT!
8.) Dive into the mud pit! You are going to get dirty either way, might as well make a splash while doing it!!
I learned a lot while running this race! I had a blast! And I will totally be doing it again next year (in one of the first waves)!!
From Fat-u-lous to Fabulous!! 